Senator Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown may be excused as a witness in trial against Brittany Higgins
A key figure in Senator Linda Reynolds’ life at the time Brittany Higgins’ allegations were made public could be excused from giving evidence, a court has been told.
WA News
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Senator Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown may be excused from giving evidence in person in the politician’s defamation trial against her former staffer Brittany Higgins.
The senator is suing Ms Higgins and her husband David Sharaz in the WA Supreme Court over a number of social media posts the pair made in 2022 and 2023.
The posts were critical of Senator Reynolds’ handling of Ms Higgins’ allegation she was raped in Parliament House in 2019 by her then-colleague Mr Lehrmann.
He was charged with rape and faced trial in 2022, but the trial was aborted due to juror misconduct.
The charge was dropped and Mr Lehrmann continues to maintain his innocence. Mr Lehrmann lost a subsequent civil defamation case in April this year when the Federal Court determined, on the balance of probabilities, that he had raped Ms Higgins at Parliament House.
FIONA BROWN MAY BE EXCUSED
Justice Tottle will decide over the weekend whether Senator Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown will have to appear in person during the defamation trial
Ms Brown’s senior counsel Dominique Hogan-Doran provided the court with a confidential medical certificate and requested that Ms Brown be excused from giving evidence in court.
It is anticipated Ms Brown will give her evidence through a written statement instead.
Ms Higgins’ lawyer, Ms Young said they had no difficulty in the order proposed by Ms Brown and said they did not want to cause her any distress by calling her to court to give evidence.
The senator’s lawyer Mr Bennett said he did not anticipate an argument and agreed with any order to supress the documents.
PUSH TO CALL BRITTANY EARLIER
Ms Higgins could be called to give evidence in the defamation trial with her former boss Senator Reynolds earlier than anticipated.
Mr Bennett told the court they could get through the witness list earlier than expected, which could mean Ms Higgins takes the stand before August 26.
But the request would likely be opposed by Ms Higgins’ defence, and Justice Tottle, who said it could present a logistical problem for her to attend earlier.
The trial continues Monday, with Senator Reynolds’ GP Dr Antonio Di Dio and psychiatrist Dr John Saboisky taking the stand.
Also giving evidence next week will be former foreign affairs minister Marise Payne, journalist Samantha Maiden and Ms Higgins’ best friend Emma Webster.
FUNNELL SUBPOENA REJECTED
When court returned from lunch on Friday afternoon, Justice Tottle told the court he would reject an application to subpoena documents from Ms Funnell about the creation of a crowdfunding campaign to pay for Ms Higgins’ legal fees.
Justice Tottle said he was not satisfied it would have the effect to appear as an attempt by Ms Higgins, her associates or supporters to mislead the public in these proceedings.
FORMER MP RECALLS ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR
Former Swan MP Steven Irons has told the WA Supreme Court that Ms Higgins was a bright and bubbly person.
He said he met Ms Higgins while she was campaigning for Senator Reynolds during the 2019 federal election in Perth.
Mr Irons served in the Liberal Party as the member for the Perth seat of Swan in the federal parliament from 2010 then retired ahead of the election in 2022.
He told defence lawyer Ms Young that he would speak to the people working and volunteering at pre-polling booths each day during the election period to spur them on.
He confirmed to the court there had been anti-social behaviour at some of the Perth pre-polling stations in the suburbs of Belmont and Cannington.
He said people had gotten off buses near the polling stations and yelled out, but he did not raise any safety concerns about the anti-social behaviour for staff working at the stations with the senator.
He could not recall raising an issue about Ms Higgins manning a booth at night on her own.
He told the court he did not visit the Belmont polling booth after 6pm because he would be packing up another polling station in Cannington at that time.
In a draft book that was written by Ms Higgins and tendered for evidence during the Bruce Lehrmann trial, Ms Higgins wrote how she was pre-polling by herself in Mandurah, about 70 kilometres south of Perth.
“Pre-polling in Mandurah by myself,” she wrote.
“Steve Irons MP ultimately stepping in saying it wasn’t appropriate to post a young woman out by herself on a polling booth in a rough area.”
NEW DETAIL ON CROWDFUNDING PAGE
Lawyers for Senator Reynolds have asked to issue a new subpoena to journalist Nina Funnell, who the court heard initially prepared the crowd-funding page for Ms Higgins before handing it over to Saxon Mullins.
Lawyer for Senator Reynolds, Martin Bennett, told the court documents produced through a subpoena issued to Ms Mullins showed Ms Funnell stated she would not be able to cope if she was attacked by Senator Reynolds’ lawyers.
Mr Bennett said Ms Mullins had advised him she did not have any communication with Ms Higgins or Mr Sharaz in relation to the crowd-funding campaign.
Mr Bennett said they wanted to examine if the conduct went to aggravation of damage, along with the recent social media posts about a book Ms Higgins is contributing to.
Mr Bennett told the court they want to find out if Ms Funnell collaborated with Ms Higgins to initiate the crowd-funding campaign or whether Ms Higgins urged her to create it.
Justice Paul Tottle said he would take some time to think about whether a subpoena would be issued.
‘HEARTLESS’ BEHAVIOUR IN SENATE
Senator Wendy Askew has told the WA Supreme Court she observed aggressive behaviour and mannerisms in the chamber directed at Senator Reynolds by Labor senators that were “just heartless”.
Senator Askew told the court on Friday her Liberal Party colleague was repeatedly asked similar questions phrased in different ways which took a toll on Senator Reynolds.
“One day she was asked a question not about (the allegations), but a question about her portfolio. She couldn’t answer. She was visibly upset and left the chamber visibly upset,” she said.
“I heard later that day she was taken to hospital and had to cancel her speech the next day.
She was very much unwell for a while and very distressed about the situation.”
Senator Askew said there were a number of occasions when they had to send Senator Reynolds to a nurse at Parliament House, then to a doctor or hospital.
Defence lawyer Rachel Young put to Senator Askew that Senator Reynolds took more time off from the senate in 2021 compared to other years.
Senator Askew confirmed that was correct but a lot of the leave were related to ministerial duties, and in 2022 there were less sitting days because it was an election year.
Ms Young put to Senator Askew that her colleague did not take leave after July 4, 2023 for medical issues.
“I cannot recall,” Senator Askew responded.
Senator Askew said that Senator Reynolds had talked about social media posts that had caused her distress.
She told the court there had been situations when the senator had taken time off because of social media posts and reporting in the media.
Under re-examination, Senator Askew told the court she only received a leave for absence on parliament sitting days, and July 4 and 20, 2022 were not sitting days.
HEATED EXCHANGE OVER POLICE REPORT
On Thursday, the court was told about a heated exchange between Senator Linda Reynolds and her chief of staff Fiona Brown over whether the security breach involving Brittany Higgins should be reported to police.
The senator’s former chief of staff Dean Carlson told the court during his evidence they were debating whether the Australian Federal Police should investigate how Ms Higgins was found in the ministerial suite.
But Ms Brown challenged the senator because she did not want to report it without Ms Higgins’ consent.
REYNOLDS’ SPIRAL AFTER ALLEGATIONS
Other witnesses faced questioning over times when the senator became distressed about her character and job including one of Senator Reynolds closest friends Denita Wawn, her brother Andrew Reynolds and psychologist Nebojsa Nikolic.
Ms Wawn told the court how the senator was a mess physically and mentally after allegations were publicly aired in 2021 and she was hospitalised.
“Up until that time Linda was highly resilient individual and could do almost anything thrown at her,” she said.
Mr Nikolic saw Senator Reynolds in March 2021, telling the court the senator was suffering severe levels of anxiety at their appointment.
Mr Nikolic said they talked about the stressors that were causing her anxiety and she told him about the allegations made against her about not acting appropriately.
He said grilling in parliament and the media, being questioned about her character and ethics and concerns about her job were also contributing stressors.
Senator Reynolds’ brother Andrew said it was obvious his sister was not well after the allegations were made, and prior to that she had always been healthy, active and worked incredibly hard.
Mr Reynolds said his sister continued to receive a torrent of degrading commentary on social media that continued to this day.
He told the court, his sister had improved over the last couple of years but had learnt to live with it rather than fully recover.
Originally published as Senator Linda Reynolds’ former chief of staff Fiona Brown may be excused as a witness in trial against Brittany Higgins
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